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I HATE having a cold or a version of a cold which seems more like the flu. This is mostly true because whenever I am sick, or have symptoms of being sick-like, I know that to feel better faster, I am going to have to readjust what it is I wish to accomplish in a day and rest. As I am a person who has a hard time taking a nap in bed during the day AND pairing down my list of to-dos, being sick with a bad cold makes me a bad patient and usually results in the cold (or flu) lasting a lot longer than it needs to…
Day 1: I woke up feeling a bit achy and sniffly. However, rather than sleeping in, I still got out of bed at my normal time, made my coffee and settled into my computer for several hours of work. When my husband commented that I looked tired and sounded stuffy, politely suggesting that maybe I should go back to bed, firmly reiterating the differences between a nap on the couch and one in the bed, I figured that if I listened to him straight away, I would curtail my budding illness and be good as new in a few hours.
Lest the day be a total loss, I popped in a load of laundry. I tossed and turned in the bed, thinking about how much the nap would improve my health so much so that when the washing machine beeped, signaling that the load of laundry was done, I got up and tended to the wash. Since I was up, I figured that I could quietly sit at my computer and get some more work done. By the late afternoon, it felt like someone had invited arctic air inside and I began to shiver. I wondered if I had a fever. I added lots of layers of clothing and snuggled onto the couch to binge watch more Ted Lasso…
Day 2: Despite feeling that my fever broke during the night, all plans I had for day 2 were cancelled and I decided that I wouldn’t do anything (except for a little schoolwork and maybe a slow walk in the warm sunny fresh air in the afternoon). I ate soup for dinner and considered that, after a good night’s sleep, tomorrow would bring me back to feeling like myself. I went to bed extra early which meant I could read my book club book extra late…
DAY 3: After a restless night, I awoke with the reassertion of a slight fever, a drippy nose, some body aches and disappointment with myself. What is it with my obsessive need to defy my illness and think that if I have accomplished some tasks for the day, I have had success? I mean laundry and dishes will always be there and now I have missed 3 days (and counting) of feeling good! I have already taken one nap in the bed today and I am headed there again…after, of course, I finish this column and put the dishes from the dishwasher away.
Stubborn! Stubborn!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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